Subverted Choices
by MyrrhDarkwing
Summary: Kairi is expected to choose between the two boys she loves. However, what if she doesn't have to? Namine proposes an interesting solution.


**START TIME: 10:13 PM**

They expected Kairi to choose, that much was clear. Both Sora and Riku expected Kairi to pick between them, and quite obviously both Sora and Riku thought she'd go for Sora.

After all, Sora _was_ the one who had had her heart trapped inside of him, the one she'd given her lucky charm to, the one who had a picture drawn of them sharing a paopu fruit. He'd travelled all through the worlds to find her and stabbed himself to get her back.

But… Riku had come after her too. He'd given in to the darkness because he thought it would help him save her. _He'd_ travelled just as many worlds as Sora had, trying to find a way to get her heart back. Even if he hadn't been the one to save her, in the end, he'd struggled through so much for her.

She loved Sora, Kairi had to admit that. She had for a while, actually, even if he'd never seemed to pick up on the somewhat-less-than-subtle hints. He was so sweet, and helpful, and generally affectionate. And she was certain that he loved her back, although he might not have figured that out yet. Actually, he probably had- he had Roxas, Xion, Ventus, and Riku to help him with such matters, after all.

Speaking of Riku, he seemed so willing to give her up to Sora (even if he did love her- she wasn't _Sora,_ after all, she could figure these things out) if it would make her happy. She loved him too, equally. He was the calmer, more intelligent one of the two- the one who made sure Sora didn't get into too much trouble when Kairi wasn't around.

Yes, she loved them both equally, so why did she have to choose? Why were they forcing her to choose between them, when she loved them and they loved her?

_Who says you have to?_ a soft voice whispered in her mind. Naminé, of course, had noted the chaotic thoughts and stepped in to… well… do whatever it is she was doing.

"Don't I?" Kairi replied aloud. There were two of them, and only one of her. Although… there was a replica of Riku somewhere, wasn't there? Maybe there could be a Kairi Replica, too, which would solve the problem.

_No,_ Naminé thought, _not a Replica. Just you. Who says you can't be with both of them?_

"You mean cheat on them? Both?" She could _never_ do that to them. It would hurt them too much. Even if she chose, only one of her best friends would be hurt, not both of them. Except she didn't want either of the boys she loved to be in pain over her.

_No, of course not,_ Naminé murmured. _It's just that… those two are unusually close for, well, teenage boys. Or so Xion says Ventus says. Haven't you noticed it? I think that maybe they might not mind sharing you. If you wanted it._ And then she was gone, leaving Kairi something completely new (and unexpected) to think about.

Come to think of it, Sora and Riku did seem quite close to each other. She'd seen one (more than once) crying in the other's arms, they went to each other for (usually romantic) advice, Sora had been so hurt by Riku's betrayal after they both went through so much to find the other while she waited for them… And then so many other little things.

It couldn't hurt to ask, could it? If they rejected her in disgust… well, there was always Naminé. The memory witch could make it so that none of the rejection or asking had ever happened, and life would go back to as normal as it ever got here.

_Get on with it. Sora's staying at Riku's tonight, Roxas says. Go on, I'll cheer for you._

Closing her eyes briefly, Kairi slipped out her front door and headed down the path to have it out with her two best friends.

Over at Riku's house, the two boys were talking about Kairi, as was usual when they had one of these sleepovers.

"You know she likes you better, Sora." Riku was smiling, but even Sora could detect the sadness that momentarily flickered over his features. He wasn't that oblivious, after all, not when it came to one of his best friends. "C'mon, just admit it. It's kind of obvious, and you've definitely got a thing for her."

"You… you're sure you don't mind?" Sora asked anxiously. He loved Kairi, yes (_even if it took you forever to figure that out,_ Xion remarked), but he wouldn't do anything if it was going to hurt Riku like he thought it might.

"Of course not," Riku laughed, still smiling. "Not if you two are happy."

_He's lying, _Roxas informed him.

_Call him on it,_ Ventus agreed.

Sora would never know _why_ the others in his head were so much better at reading people than he was, but it did come in handy quite often (at least, around Riku and Kairi and… well, lots of people, it did). He silently laughed to himself over what he just accepted as normal- most people he knew would think they were going mental if they heard voices in their heads, but it was actually a part of his normal.

_And there's reasons for all of us,_ Xion nodded.

"Just… go tell her, in the morning," Riku was still talking, oblivious to Sora's internal dialogue. "Tell her how you feel, and if she doesn't run away screaming, kiss her. If she does, um… I don't know, find out if she likes chicks and have Xion kiss her?"

"Xion is telling me to hit you," Sora told the other boy, and promptly did so. He wasn't going to call Riku out on the lying thing, not yet anyway. Maybe later. For now, there was a more pressing matter on his mind. "And what if I'm not any good at kissing? I mean, I've never done it before! She might be all disgusted, and then what would I do?"

"Ask someone else for help? At least _I_ already _know_ I'm a good kisser, so _ha." _Although Riku never really had explained how he knew this. Sora assumed it had something to do with one of the many girls at their school who thought the world of him.

_Remind me to tell you an interesting story about Repliku sometime,_ Roxas commented.

Or… then again, maybe not, if his head-mates' internal laughter was anything to go by. Still, it didn't matter _how_ he'd gotten the experience, Riku apparently _had_ the experience. "Okay, so can you teach me? Please?" Sora begged, widening his eyes into a stare that worked wonders with adults (and just about everyone else he'd met).

Riku glanced away for a moment, battling the effect of the puppy eyes. When he looked back at Sora, he was smirking in a decidedly evil fashion.

_Definitely evil,_ Vanitas agreed, speaking up as he so rarely did (the others pretty well shunned him). _I give it a, hmm, seven out of ten. Do better next time. _And Vanitas ought to know about evil smirks and such things. Sora decided to trust him on this one.

"Noooo," Riku purred, drawing out the word for dramatic effect, "but I can _show_ you." Wait, what?

Sora blinked. "Um, what?" he said intelligently. That was rather… unexpected, and surely Riku didn't meant what Sora _thought_ he meant, right?

_He offered to kiss you. _Vanitas was laughing openly now, and Xion was watching with some degree of interest (girls!). _It's not that hard to figure out, really._

Surprisingly enough, Sora found himself saying, "Okay." An expression of shock flickered over Riku's face. Obviously, he hadn't expected Sora to take him up on his offer.

"Right then," Riku said shortly, and then he was leaning in and pressing his lips gently against Sora's own.

He had to admit to himself, this really didn't feel... not good. In fact, it was kind of nice- Riku was warm, and he smelled sort of like the beach, and if _this_ was what kissing was like Sora could see why people liked it so much.

_Kiss back,_ Ventus suggested helpfully. _It involves… um… just do what he's doing. I think. And breathe somehow._

It was good to know that his head-mates didn't seem to know what to do anymore than he did, and slightly disturbing how avidly Xion was watching.

_Give them some, I don't know, privacy or something,_ Roxas muttered, pulling the girl back into a corner of Sora's mind.

_Kiss back,_ Ventus repeated, and followed them.

So he did, sort of awkwardly trying to do what Riku was doing by moving his mouth slightly against the other boy's. It was awkward and made breathing funny and with anyone else he would have felt stupid, but Riku never made him feel stupid.

Then Sora was trying to figure out how to breathe when all of a sudden Riku's tongue was inside his mouth, making him gasp. It felt… _good._ Like, really good. And really, really, really strange. Maybe it should be weird that he's doing it with a guy, but this isn't just a _guy,_ this is _Riku,_ and they're only kissing to teach Sora how to do it right. Okay, that wasn't weird at all, good.

Riku pulled away, eliciting a whimper from Sora as the nice sensations were removed. "You actually aren't that bad," Riku conceded, grinning. "Still… maybe we should practise a little more? Just to make sure?"

"Right, yeah, practise," Sora agreed, resolutely ignoring his head-mates' snickers, because Riku was kissing him again and _oh, gods, it felt good._

Of course, as all the laws of dramatic irony mandated, it was right then that Kairi let herself into the room. Neither of the boys noticed her until she let out a quiet "Oh."

Naminé was laughing at the haste with which Sora and Riku pulled away from each other, and Kairi felt like joining her. It was the looks on their faces that prevented her from doing so- looks saying 'oh, gods, she caught us, what is she going to think, we're SORRY!' Priceless looks, really.

_See, it doesn't look like they will mind too terribly much,_ Naminé said smugly.

"It wasn't what it looked like!" Sora was wide-eyed in what was presumably terror. Riku remained silent and stared up at her, silently daring her to comment.

Naturally, she took the dare. "So you weren't making out with Riku on his bed?"

"… Okay, so it was exactly what it looked like," Sora muttered. "But, um, I was practising on him because I don't want you to think I'm a bad kisser, and, well…" He trailed off, blushing bright red. Kairi thought it was quite cute.

"It's fine, Sora," she smiled. "Really it is."

"Um, right," Sora nodded.

Riku finally spoke. "So, any particular reason you came here?" he asked, trying his best to pretend that none of this was happening and there was no way he was embarrassed, no way at all (this was _Riku,_ and embarrassment happened to _other _people, certainly not _him_).

Now it was Kairi's turn to blush. "Well… you're in love with me, aren't you? Both of you, I mean."

Startled silence followed her words momentarily, then-

"Of _course!_" Sora said. "I… yeah, I love you. Don't know about Riku?"

Riku nodded, a confused look on his face as he, too, turned red. "Yes," he muttered, barely audibly. "Yes, okay? I love you too."

Neither of them expected the wide grin that broke over her features. "That's perfect!" she said cheerfully.

"… Why exactly?" Riku inquired.

"Because-" she blushed even harder- "I love you. _Both_ of you. And-" Sora started to say something, but she held up a hand to cut him off and continued- "from what I walked in on you two doing, you don't seem to mind each other. So, well, I was thinking, actually, Naminé was thinking, but it's really the same difference, that, um, I shouldn't have to choose. Or I could, and just choose both of you? Maybe?" She trailed off.

"Like us alternating days or something?" Sora frowned. "Well, I guess, if it makes you happy…"

"No," Riku said, shaking his head as he gazed at Kairi, "threesomes. Or something like that, anyway, am I right, Kairi?"

She nodded. "Yeah, Riku. Threesomes? Unless… you don't want to? Because I could just go away, or do that alternating days thing Sora suggested, or-"

"_No," _both of them said firmly, if not quite in unison.

"I kinda like it," Riku admitted. "Because, well…"

"Roxas says you got your kissing experience from Repliku," Sora reported, giggling maniacally. "Axel told him. Don't know how Axel knew." Then, returning to the topic at hand- "And, um, kissing Riku, it felt nice. I wouldn't mind either, as long as you're happy, Kairi. You _are,_ aren't you?" The last was added in such a plaintive tone that Kairi _had_ to smile.

"I've got you two," she grinned. "Of _course_ I am."

"Then get over here and prove it to us, Princess," Riku challenged, and his smirk was back in place. "Sora here has been learning about kissing all for you…"

Inside Sora's head, four people groaned in unison and reached out for various items of entertainment. They did _not_ want to watch what was about to happen, not even Xion, because though she was willing enough to watch them_ kiss,_ it looked like it was about to go way beyond that…

Naminé pulled out her ever-present sketchpad and began to draw, humming to herself in order to drown out the moans. There were some things she just didn't need to hear, despite the fact that she'd practically forced them into this. It was a job well done, she decided, even if Sora's head-mates probably weren't about to thank her.

It was just as well that Xehanort's Heartless wasn't hanging around in Riku's head anymore. He probably wouldn't have wanted to watch either. Even evil has standards, after all.

**END TIME: 11:49 PM**


End file.
